3297

CThat’s just part of it. Trump is not the first dumbass we’ve put in the Oval Office and he by god won’t be the last.

But he’s also such a goddamned liar. Lies come out of him as casually as you or I speak about breakfast. Not because he wants to pull a fast one but because he does not care. I’ve never seen a more completely amoral person. But he’s not the first liar we’ve elected to higher office either and ha ha, no way in hell he’s the last.

But he also has no higher interest than lining his pockets. Remember when folks criticized Obama because he was just a community organizer? Which, here’s a radical thought, showed an obvious interest in public service. Go look at anything Trump has ever done and find me one thing that wasn’t motivated by self interest. Make America Great Again? I will laugh until, and maybe while, I cry.

3298

Maybe, but it still doesn’t make any sense. Let’s say you’re a straight-up anti-Muslim, anti-Obamacare, alt-righter that voted for Trump to “shake things up” in Washington. What has Trump accomplished for you so far?

He may not be the first or the last, but I’d be hard-pressed to think of a dumber one.

3299

Well the local Klan rally finally had enough RSVPs to book the really nice gazebo at the fairgrounds.

Just because I’m not a fan of subtlety, what I’m saying here is that literally all Trump voters are the moral equivalent of the KKK and should probably be imprisoned at best.

3300

Yeah, I can’t think of a dumber one either… Maybe we just had poor records of presidents back in the day, but I’d venture that literally every single president was more literate than Trump.

3301

Every single person is.

3302

I would propose “completely lacking in introspection” and “gaping void where a personality might be found” over the more prosaic “dumb.” But whatever floats your boat.

3303
3304

He makes W look like a nucular physicist.

3305

This is a really interesting case, because it sounds like the protester did break the law, as unfortunate as that law is. Apparently the session was disrupted when she was forcibly removed, which was enough for the jurors to convict.

It is tough being on a jury, but you have to base your decisions on the way the law is written. I wouldn’t want some pro-life maniac screaming about dead babies interrupting a confirmation hearing either. This is kind of one of those, this law is stupidly harsh, but the reason it exists is so that they can allow the public to attend, but not disrupt the work. It sounds like they will be getting fined, no jailtime.

The headline, while accurate, is scarier than the truth.

3306
3307

I see what you did there.

3308

Fixed.

3309

The jurors indicated they felt they had to convict Fairooz because of the way the laws are written, with yet another juror describing them as “so broad.”

At least three jurors said it was fair to say they felt forced into convicting her. “There’s almost no way that you can find them not guilty,” one said.

“There’s not a lot of wiggle room,” said the jury foreperson.

These people need to learn about jury nullification. Fuck this noise.

3310

The defendant’s circumstances notwithstanding, you know damn well the adults* in the GOP are not happy about this case not being thrown out on the lulz.**

.
.
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  • lol

** pretty sure that’s the legal term

3311

While the big shiny turd in the punchbowl today is healthcare, let us not forget other things going on. To that end, something came across today while I was driving.

http://www.npr.org/2017/05/04/526830627/republicans-scrap-rule-for-small-business-retirement-plans

Short version? President Obama crafted a policy guideline to clarify the legal range of options for states to create state wide retirement plan management for small businesses. Basically privately managed retirement funds that are provided at zero cost to small businesses. By doing so the intent, and effect was, small businesses that could not afford to create employee retirement plans would be able to enroll with the state footing the cost of establishing and managing the fund. This would allow employees to benefit from pre tax deductions for retirement, and increase the number of persons who have private retirement savings.

Sounds like the kind of dream plan for Republicans, no? State based management, with the fed merely delegating what can be done to the states, privately managed private public partnership, very business friendly in that it reduces the cost of doing business, and pushes people towards retirement savings, and therefore less dependent on government services. It’s like Paul Ryan’s wet dream made manifest.

They killed it yesterday.

Why, you may ask? There was some mealy mouthed excuses from various sources, but I found this telling

Lisa Bleier is a managing director and associate general counsel with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, or SIFMA. She says, “Every state is coming up with all different ideas as to how they’re going to do it.” Bleier says that will create problems. SIFMA has other objections, too. And some in the industry think the government just shouldn’t get involved.

Oh no, having each state operate differently could be confusing! Surely they want a federal solution then?

Dennis Kelleher is president and CEO of the financial watchdog group Better Markets. He says there’s another reason for the industry’s opposition: If states set up plans that are relatively low-cost for workers, that might push the whole market in that direction and hurt financial firms’ profits.

“It’s all about protecting profits and that’s all this fight was really about,” Kelleher says.

Oh, right. By having the more efficient large managed fund, they won’t be able to charge exorbitant rates to each company separately, so Wall Street firms could see a dip in profits. So they cried to their pet politicians, dabbing the tears with wads of campaign cash I’m sure, and the Republicans graciously agreed to help out the poor put upon Wall Street firms.

That got a bit angrier than I anticipated…

3312

Yet not as angry as it really deserves.

3313

You can say ‘cockholster’ here without being censored.

Every day it’s something new and despicable from these clowns. And a new XO today on religious freedoms, which of course really means Christian religious freedoms, more specifically white 1950s Christian religious freedoms, of course.

3314

Funny thing, listening to (again) NPR this morning they had a segment on that very Executive Order. You know how often that hated by the right Johnson ammendment is enforced? Who is the likely target?

Hint: not very, and typically against black protestant churches who lean Democrat.

3315

I look forward to the protections that ‘Muslims for Booker’ or ‘Hindus Love Harris’ will enjoy in 2020!

3316

This is the key and there’s no getting around it. The American electorate failed. It was not worthy of its sacred mandate. It pissed on the legacy of great minds and brave patriots who worked and in many cases died to bequeath this power to them.